Watson finished tied for 18th at the Masters. He was among the early leaders on Thursday when he shot an opening round 67, but closed with rounds of 74-73-73. Still, he earned a special exemption to the U.S. Open with the showing, ESPN reports.

Watson will qualify for the 2010 British Open after the tournament changed rules that would have failed to give an automatic qualifying bid for former champions who were over 60 years old, the Associated Press. The tournament amended it's rules so that former champions who finish in the top 10 in the previous five Opens get a five-year exemption.

After struggling early in Friday's second round of the Open Championship, Watson played his last 10 holes in 4-under to finish at 70 for the day, 5-under for the tournament. He's the co-leader at the event's midpoint.

To put it simply, there's no way Watson earns as
much in 2010 as he did in 2009. His run at the British Open last year
was a once-in-a-generation run. Everything lined up perfectly for
Watson last season at the British Open, and it was certainly fun to
watch, but it just can't happen again.

2006

He'll show up for the Majors, but the limited schedule makes it hard to improve on the 2005 number.